Essential Bioinformatics is a concise yet comprehensive textbook of bioinformatics, which provides a broad introduction to the entire field. Written specifically for a life science audience, the basics of bioinformatics are explained, followed by discussions of the state-of-the-art computational tools available to solve biological research problems. All key areas of bioinformatics are covered including biological databases, sequence alignment, genes and promoter prediction, molecular phylogenetics, structural bioinformatics, genomics and proteomics. The book emphasizes how computational methods work and compares the strengths and weaknesses of different methods. This balanced yet easily accessible text will be invaluable to students who do not have sophisticated computational backgrounds. Technical details of computational algorithms are explained with a minimum use of mathematical formulae; graphical illustrations are used in their place to aid understanding. The effective synthesis of existing literature as well as in-depth and up-to-date coverage of all key topics in bioinformatics make this an ideal textbook for all bioinformatics courses taken by life science students and for researchers wishing to develop their knowledge of bioinformatics to facilitate their own research.

"This book is intended to give the basics of biological concepts, biological database and internet based bioinformatic tools. We are hopeful that this book will cater to the immediate needs of students, researchers, faculty members and pharmaceutical industries."--Pref.

This textbook introduces fundamental concepts of bioinformatics and computational biology to the students and researchers in biology, medicine, veterinary science, agriculture, and bioengineering . The respective chapters provide detailed information on biological databases, sequence alignment, molecular evolution, next-generation sequencing, systems biology, and statistical computing using R. The book also presents a case-based discussion on clinical, veterinary, agricultural bioinformatics, and computational bioengineering for application-based learning in the respective fields. Further, it offers readers guidance on reconstructing and analysing biological networks and highlights computational methods used in systems medicine and genome-wide association mapping of diseases. Given its scope, this textbook offers an essential introductory book on bioinformatics and computational biology for undergraduate and graduate students in the life sciences, botany, zoology, physiology, biotechnology, bioinformatics, and genomic science as well as systems biology, bioengineering and the agricultural, and veterinary sciences.

"In this book, Andy Baxevanis and Francis Ouellette . . . haveundertaken the difficult task of organizing the knowledge in thisfield in a logical progression and presenting it in a digestibleform. And they have done an excellent job. This fine text will makea major impact on biological research and, in turn, on progress inbiomedicine. We are all in their debt." —Eric Lander from the Foreword Reviews from the First Edition "...provides a broad overview of the basic tools for sequenceanalysis ... For biologists approaching this subject for the firsttime, it will be a very useful handbook to keep on the shelf afterthe first reading, close to the computer." —Nature Structural Biology "...should be in the personal library of any biologist who usesthe Internet for the analysis of DNA and protein sequencedata." —Science "...a wonderful primer designed to navigate the novice throughthe intricacies of in scripto analysis ... The accomplished genesearcher will also find this book a useful addition to theirlibrary ... an excellent reference to the principles ofbioinformatics." —Trends in Biochemical Sciences This new edition of the highly successful Bioinformatics:A Practical Guide to the Analysis of Genes and Proteinsprovides a sound foundation of basic concepts, with practicaldiscussions and comparisons of both computational tools anddatabases relevant to biological research. Equipping biologists with the modern tools necessary to solvepractical problems in sequence data analysis, the Second Editioncovers the broad spectrum of topics in bioinformatics, ranging fromInternet concepts to predictive algorithms used on sequence,structure, and expression data. With chapters written by experts inthe field, this up-to-date reference thoroughly covers vitalconcepts and is appropriate for both the novice and the experiencedpractitioner. Written in clear, simple language, the book isaccessible to users without an advanced mathematical or computerscience background. This new edition includes: All new end-of-chapter Web resources, bibliographies, andproblem sets Accompanying Web site containing the answers to the problems,as well as links to relevant Web resources New coverage of comparative genomics, large-scale genomeanalysis, sequence assembly, and expressed sequence tags A glossary of commonly used terms in bioinformatics andgenomics Bioinformatics: A Practical Guide to the Analysis of Genesand Proteins, Second Edition is essential reading forresearchers, instructors, and students of all levels in molecularbiology and bioinformatics, as well as for investigators involvedin genomics, positional cloning, clinical research, andcomputational biology.

Structural Bioinformatics was the first major effort to show the application of the principles and basic knowledge of the larger field of bioinformatics to questions focusing on macromolecular structure, such as the prediction of protein structure and how proteins carry out cellular functions, and how the application of bioinformatics to these life science issues can improve healthcare by accelerating drug discovery and development. Designed primarily as a reference, the first edition nevertheless saw widespread use as a textbook in graduate and undergraduate university courses dealing with the theories and associated algorithms, resources, and tools used in the analysis, prediction, and theoretical underpinnings of DNA, RNA, and proteins. This new edition contains not only thorough updates of the advances in structural bioinformatics since publication of the first edition, but also features eleven new chapters dealing with frontier areas of high scientific impact, including: sampling and search techniques; use of mass spectrometry; genome functional annotation; and much more. Offering detailed coverage for practitioners while remaining accessible to the novice, Structural Bioinformatics, Second Edition is a valuable resource and an excellent textbook for a range of readers in the bioinformatics and advanced biology fields. Praise for the previous edition: "This book is a gold mine of fundamental and practical information in an area not previously well represented in book form." —Biochemistry and Molecular Education "... destined to become a classic reference work for workers at all levels in structural bioinformatics...recommended with great enthusiasm for educators, researchers, and graduate students." —BAMBED "...a useful and timely summary of a rapidly expanding field." —Nature Structural Biology "...a terrific job in this timely creation of a compilation of articles that appropriately addresses this issue." —Briefings in Bioinformatics

Bioinformatics for Beginners: Genes, Genomes, Molecular Evolution, Databases and Analytical Tools provides a coherent and friendly treatment of bioinformatics for any student or scientist within biology who has not routinely performed bioinformatic analysis. The book discusses the relevant principles needed to understand the theoretical underpinnings of bioinformatic analysis and demonstrates, with examples, targeted analysis using freely available web-based software and publicly available databases. Eschewing non-essential information, the work focuses on principles and hands-on analysis, also pointing to further study options. Avoids non-essential coverage, yet fully describes the field for beginners Explains the molecular basis of evolution to place bioinformatic analysis in biological context Provides useful links to the vast resource of publicly available bioinformatic databases and analysis tools Contains over 100 figures that aid in concept discovery and illustration

Bioinformatics: A Practical Guide to NCBI Databases and Sequence Alignments provides the basics of bioinformatics and in-depth coverage of NCBI databases, sequence alignment, and NCBI Sequence Local Alignment Search Tool (BLAST). As bioinformatics has become essential for life sciences, the book has been written specifically to address the need of a large audience including undergraduates, graduates, researchers, healthcare professionals, and bioinformatics professors who need to use the NCBI databases, retrieve data from them, and use BLAST to find evolutionarily related sequences, sequence annotation, construction of phylogenetic tree, and the conservative domain of a protein, to name just a few. Technical details of alignment algorithms are explained with a minimum use of mathematical formulas and with graphical illustrations. Key Features Provides readers with the most-used bioinformatics knowledge of bioinformatics databases and alignments including both theory and application via illustrations and worked examples. Discusses the use of Windows Command Prompt, Linux shell, R, and Python for both Entrez databases and BLAST. The companion website contains tutorials, R and Python codes, instructor materials including slides, exercises, and problems for students. This is the ideal textbook for bioinformatics courses taken by students of life sciences and for researchers wishing to develop their knowledge of bioinformatics to facilitate their own research.